Word.ws English Dictionary

Kirkman's schoolgirl problem

Kirkman's schoolgirl problem proper noun: a problem in combinatorics, in which 15 schoolgirls go walking three abreast for seven days in succession, and must be arranged so that no two walk abreast more than once.

Proper noun

Kirkman's schoolgirl problem

  1. A problem in combinatorics, in which 15 schoolgirls go walking three abreast for seven days in succession, and must be arranged so that no two walk abreast more than once.

Origin of Kirkman's schoolgirl problem

Proposed by Rev. Thomas Penyngton Kirkman in 1850.

Questions about Kirkman's schoolgirl problem

What does Kirkman's schoolgirl problem mean?
Kirkman's schoolgirl problem means a problem in combinatorics, in which 15 schoolgirls go walking three abreast for seven days in succession, and must be arranged so that no two walk abreast more than once.
What part of speech is Kirkman's schoolgirl problem?
Kirkman's schoolgirl problem is a proper noun.

Words near Kirkman's schoolgirl problem in the dictionary

  1. Kirklins
  2. Kirkliston
  3. kirkmaister
  4. kirkmaisters
  5. kirkman
  6. Kirkman's schoolgirl problem
  7. Kirkmans
  8. kirkmaster
  9. kirkmasters
  10. kirkmen
  11. Kirkmichael

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Kirkman's schoolgirl problem (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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